Too much was left unsaid

Thursday

Jan 30, 2014 at 3:15 AMJan 30, 2014 at 11:18 AM

Perhaps as notable, if not more so, than what President Barack Obama said during his State of the Union address on Tuesday is what he didn't say.

Nine paragraphs out of the gate, the president bragged the United States is now sporting its lowest unemployment rate in five years (6.7%). But as was pointed out in the Republican response by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., this is because last month “more Americans stopped looking for a job than found one.”

He bragged of a deficit cut in half without noting the country is still drowning in red ink.

The president promised to cut red tape on major projects to spur job growth, leading us to wonder why such a promise took five years from the start of his administration to make (or did we miss another unfulfilled promise?) It is also eerily reminiscent of the president's failed promise of “shovel-ready” jobs when he first took office.

On energy independence, the president took credit for the expansion of domestic oil and gas production. Never mind the growth has been on private lands, not public acres. And in the meantime, the EPA is working of regulations that could bring fracking — largely responsible for the boom — to a near halt.

And what of the president's silence on the fate of the Keystone Pipeline that would help ensure the continued flow of North American oil and the accompanying domestic jobs?

While bragging of tighter government regulations to reduce air pollution, the president omitted that his administration is developing regulations which could very well shut down a major share of West Virginia's coal industry — the state's number one source of income and jobs.

Then there is the Affordable Care Act. The president bragged of its advantages. One being that women would no longer be charged more than men. But he failed to point out young people are being overcharged in order to subsidize rates for older Americans. And he had the chutzpah to ask the moms of America to sucker for this deception by asking them to get their kids signed up.

He touted the millions who have signed up for the Affordable Care Act, while ignoring the millions who have had their policies canceled.

Beyond these glaring omissions were some contradictions. In calling for a higher minimum wage of $10.10 per hour, the president praised businesses, such as warehouse shopping club Costco, which have taken it upon themselves to pay more — because it is good business.

If the president is willing to honor those decisions as “good business” why can't he honor decisions by many struggling businesses not to have the government arbitrarily raise wages?

And how about President Obama's ludicrous attempt to compare himself to President John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.

Said the president, referring to Iran's nuclear program: “If John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan could negotiate with the Soviet Union, then surely a strong and confident America can negotiate with less powerful adversaries today.”

JFK didn't negotiate an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis. He simply left Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev no choice. President Reagan took a different tact. With the aid of Congress, the United States militarily spent Russia into the ground leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall and Communism.

Finally, there is the president's belligerency on Tuesday. “Do it or else” was effectively his message to Congress. Such childish behavior should come as no surprise. The president has taken this “big brother knows best” approach since taking office, starting with shoving ObamaCare down the nation's throat rather than building consensus for a bipartisan plan.

Thankfully, President Obama is a lame duck. He will have little influence on Congress in coming months, especially as his own party seeks to distance itself from his failed promises, the most notable — and omitted from Tuesday's speech — being: “If you like your health plan, you can keep your health plan” and “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.”